Self and Sin: An Exploration of Teshuvah
The Hebrew word teshuvah is commonly translated as repentance but is more accurately rendered as return. This class will ask, ‘a return to what?’ Who is the real me? What does it mean to abandon a sinful past? We will explore biblical and rabbinic texts as well as medieval and modern thinkers, among them Maimonides, Rabbi Nachman of Breslov, Altar of Novardok, and Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik. This recording is the first session of a multi-session course.